Dave Grohl Recalls His Soundgarden ‘Holy S—‘ Moment

One of the great things about the Seattle scene of the early '90s was the incredible amount of talent and craftsmanship that continually raised the bar among the top bands in the area. With Soundgarden's 'Superunknown' turning 20 this year, one of the band's peers, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, has weighed in with his recollection of hearing what Soundgarden were doing back in '94.

In a new video posted by Soundgarden, Grohl reminisces about the album and shares his first reaction to hearing the band's music before it arrived on record store shelves. The drummer recalls producer/engineer Adam Casper offering to share a bit of Soundgarden's work at one of Nirvana's final recording sessions.

He remembers, "He played 'Black Hole Sun' and I remember thinking, 'Holy s--t, this is gonna be huge.' Because to me it was the perfect meeting of the Beatles and Black Sabbath, which is what I think we put in our Nirvana bio … but I don't think that had ever successfully been paired until that record, and in particular that song." Grohl says he felt that the song was "much more melodically sophisticated" than anything any of Soundgarden's Seattle peers were doing.

In the clip, Grohl recalls discovering Soundgarden and feeling they were truly the forerunners to all of the bands that emerged out of Seattle. Of 'Superunknown' in general, Grohl added, "That record just raised the bar for everyone … Nobody had a voice like Chris [Cornell], nobody played drums like Matt [Cameron]. They were an incredible band. Twenty years later, that's one of those records I honestly feel like your kid or your kid's kids will discover and say, 'Wow, Dad, did you know about that band Soundgarden?' 25 years from now."

Grohl's fondness for Soundgarden hasn't waned since the early days, as he directed the band's 2012 video for 'By Crooked Steps.'